"A-players Don’t Always Make Great Team Players. Motivated by credit, praise, promotions, and raises, Superstar
employees are often amazing individual contributors. But they are not
always amazing to work with. When multiple A-listers are on one team, unless the culture
aggressively fosters collaboration and cooperation, they can become
competitive with each other, hoard resources, and spend way too much
time focusing on what each other is doing, versus focusing on beating
your company’s actual competitors in the marketplace."

I have always argued that team creation should involve picking the right players, not simply the best players. Picking the right players means thinking about how they will complement one another. Can they fit into certain roles on the team? Do they have personalities that will enable them to collaborate effectively? Are they all willing to put the organization's goals above their own personal or departmental interests?

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Michael Roberto

The Great Courses

About Me

I am the Trustee Professor of Management at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI. I joined the faculty after serving for six years on the faculty at Harvard Business School.

My research, teaching, and consulting focuses on leadership, with a particular emphasis on decision-making and teams. I have published two books based upon my research: Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes For An Answer (2nd edition to be released in May 2013), and Know What You Don't Know (2009).